The present invention relates generally to amusement games, and, more particularly, to a cylindrical crane amusement game which includes a polar coordinate crane-positioning system.
Coin-operated crane type amusement games, in which a player pays money for the opportunity to control a crane (comprising a gantry and claw mechanism) to win toys, novelty items, trinkets, candy and other items are well known. At one time or another most of us have seen, or even played these games at nickelodeons, traveling carnivals, circuses, arcades, amusement parks, restaurants, movie theaters, game rooms, truck stops, bowling alleys, fairs or retail stores. Trying to win prizes from crane games is both fun and challenging. Unlike other redemption games, where one plays for tickets or prizes pre-selected by an arcade or game owner, crane games allow the player to select the prize to be sought. Crane games, then, provide entertainment to men, women and children alike.
A number of crane games are known in the marketplace, including the Plush Bus(trademark), Sports Bus(trademark), London Bus(trademark), Chocolate Factory(trademark) (the world""s first crane/pusher candy bar dispensing game), Pinnacle(trademark), Plush Palace(trademark) (a double gantry/crane), Grab ""n Go(trademark), and Carnival(trademark) crane, all of which are manufactured and distributed by the assignee of this patent.
Various improvements have been made in crane games over the years. Cabinets are now made of metal, with epoxy-powder coatings (e.g., Plush Bus(trademark)) for protection and longer life. Some games (e.g., Pinnacle(trademark)) offer cabinets with beautiful wood finishes. Improvements have been made in the claw structure and operation, and in gantry and claw positioning and control systems. Electronic sensors and switching mechanisms have replaced mechanical sensors. Perhaps the most exciting development in recent years was the combination of a crane and pusher game in the popular Chocolate Factory(trademark) game. In this game, the first of its kind to dispense candy bars as prizes, a player operates a crane to pick up one or more candy bars, and then carefully places the bars on a platform. A xe2x80x9cpusherxe2x80x9d then pushes the candy bars along the platform, and fall off the end of the platform (hopefully) as prizes.
Despite these advances, all crane games share several structural and functional similarities. First crane game cabinets are generally rectangular in shape. The gantry which moves the crane into position above the target prizes is generally controlled by a joystick, or similar device, in a rectilinear (Cartesian) (XYZ) coordinate system.
One crane game is described by Shoemaker in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,667. In this patent from 1988, Shoemaker discloses a rectangular, box-like crane amusement game in which a player controls the positioning of a pincer, which can be closed over an object that is to be retrieved. The gantry and claw mechanism of this patented invention operates in the XYZ coordinate system such that the rails on which the gantry moves cross one another with one rail extending above the other. This patented invention also comprises reversible X and Y direction drive motors for moving the gantry back and forth along the perpendicularly aligned rails.
Another box-like crane game utilizing XYZ type movement is described by Shoemaker in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,892. In this patent from 1999, which describes a video crane game, Shoemaker again discloses a claw-type game which utilizes an XYZ assembly that allows a player to control the movement of a claw in the XY plane and in a Z direction.
In addition to the relatively few changes in the XYZ movement of gantries in crane games, very little has been done to alter the general rectangular shape of crane amusement games, despite the fact that manufacturers such as Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc., (ICE) have made great improvements in appearance and aesthetic aspects of crane games. For example, ICE currently manufactures customized crane amusement games full of colorful decals and artwork. Some of their games are custom decorated so as to resemble school buses, double-decker buses or 18-wheeled trucks. However, because typical crane games comprise rectangular, box-like structures, dressing up the appearances of the games is limited to imitating real-life items that are box-like themselves (school buses, double-decker buses and 18-wheeled trucks).
While it is desirable to manufacture a non-rectangular crane game (e.g., round, circular, or cylindrical cabinet and prize platform) for advertising, marketing and entertainment purposes, the limitation of an XYZ rectilinear gantry drive and positioning systems has heretofore prevented such a development. Movement of the gantry and claw on perpendicular rails in XYZ planes would be undesirable in a cylindrically shaped cabinet since the retrieving apparatus would not be capable of accessing the outer circumference of the prize platform. Consequently, people would be reluctant to play a game where they were unable to retrieve prizes located along the outer edges of the platform. Thus, developing a gantry and crane system that could access the outer circumference of a round prize platform is prerequisite to creating an entertaining cylindrically shaped crane game.
Heretofore, crane mechanisms arranged for rotational movement have primarily been associated with heavy lifting cranes used in industrial settings. A gantry and crane of this type is disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,231 (Morrissey, Jr., et al.). In this patent from 1980, a gantry and crane apparatus for lifting heavy nuclear fuel rods is disclosed as comprising a three-point gantry structure (T or Y-shaped) which moves about a circular rail. The three-point structure not only allows the patented gantry and crane to lift heavy fuel rod loads, but also allows the gantry and crane to withstand the stresses of earthquakes.
Another gantry and crane mechanism which operates in a circular plane is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,128,039 (Piercy). However, this patented invention from 1915 is also structured as a staging or support for lifting heavy objects. The staging and support is designed for performing underwater blasting, mining and other similar submarine operations requiring substantial support means.
However, while gantry and crane assemblies for lifting heavy objects in industrial settings in cylindrical spaces are known, crane assemblies arranged for rotation and movement in a cylindrical coordinate system in games are heretofore unknown. There is a longfelt need, then, for a gantry operatively arranged for rotational and translational movement in a polar coordinate system about a circular prize platform in a crane game.
The present invention broadly comprises a crane amusement game, including a cylindrically shaped cabinet enclosing a game prize platform, and a gantry including a claw, operatively arranged to grab a prize arranged on the platform. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the prize platform includes an actuate perimeter. In another embodiment, the invention includes a crane amusement game, including a cabinet enclosing a game prize platform, and, a gantry including a gantry operatively arranged for rotational movement, and a claw operatively arranged for translational movement, the claw operatively arranged to grab a prize arranged on the platform. In this embodiment, the cabinet may be in any shape, but the gantry is arranged for rotational movement.
A general object of the present invention is to provide a crane amusement game having a cylindrically shaped cabinet enclosing a game prize platform, and a gantry including a claw operatively arranged to grab a prize arranged on the platform.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a crane amusement game having a gantry operatively arranged for rotational movement above a prize platform.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the invention in view of the several drawing figures and appended claims.